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Taking morals seriously
One thing that I thought I often get flack for is taking morals seriously in what I review. It is one thing I often do, and I've reviewed many episodes and even movies due to the stupidity of their morals. In fact, in my reviewing criteria I have not one, but two segments that particularly detail the morality of the episode "unfortunate implications" and "rancid morals/rancid morality." But what I review are cartoons and no would take things like Boys vs. Girls from Teen Titans Go or Seahorse Seashell Party seriously, right? I'm going to try to... delve into this because the this is going to be a hard thing to explain. Most people are not stupid, and they're not going to listen to whatever they hear on television, media, or whatever. My argument when I attack morals is not usually based on the listener, but on the speaker. Let's talk about the easier topic first though. Many of the moral-driven episodes that I review exist to teach morals. They do it in a stupid way. They should be called out in a similar way to a story-driven episode failing on its story. Episodes like Number's Game give completely wrong and confusing lessons. Episodes like Nobody Doesn't Like TJ end up teaching different morals than what they originally intended. And episodes like Space Circus don't give a strong case for what they're teaching. I don't think that anyone has a problem with me going after episodes like that. It's the... other types of episodes. The episodes that are for an adult audience, like Seahorse Seashell Party or The Drawn Together Movie or Screams of Silence. It's also the episodes that have parody morals like Stuck in the Wringer or Boys vs. Girls or Lisa Goes Gaga. Let's start with the fact that in half of these, the moral isn't why I chose to review it. And I can't just leave an integral part of the product out when I review something. But, let's talk about the adult episode morals. I don't give them a pass, just like I don't give kids' shows morals a pass. Do I think that people would listen to them? Honestly, it depends on how universally the message is taught that way, but let's go with a "no" in most cases. Then why do I freak out about them, so to speak? The best way I can explain this is to tie it to adult cartoons that have messages that work. Think of some of the best episodes of The Simpsons. We have episodes like Homer Badman; Itchy, Scratchy & Marge; Homer's Phobia. At the time they opened people's eyes to see the fuller aspects of an adult issue and it can inform people of the consequences of their choices. I pick on Family Guy a lot (and I'm going to continue to do so), but let's talk about episodes like PTV. The episode was clearly about getting a message across, and it did so in a funny and clever way. It also did what the Drawn Together Movie failed to do in 1 sixth the time. Not caring about the messages in the dumber episodes means that you appreciate the messages in the smarter episodes as much. Remember, that a big part of satire is the message inherent within it. If the message is cruel or stupid or backwards, it makes the episode cruel or stupid or backwards as well. This is especially apparent because in later seasons Family Guy decided to stop being funny to start telling these messages. If Seahorse Seashell Party wasn't about the message, then what the hell would it be about besides freaking out their viewers with trippy visuals? For a comedy show, it's not funny at all. Speaking of that, let's talk about spoof morals. Was Seahorse Seashell Party a spoof moral? To be 100% honest, I have no idea. Nothing in the end indicates as a joke, and you need more than a moral just being completely stupid for it count as a spoof moral. All too often, the episodes I review do nothing to distance their morals from the reality of the episode. I've said it before, Boys vs. Girls teaches its "moral" in the exact same way that Arthur would teach that stealing is wrong. And then there are episodes like Lisa Goes Gaga where I have no idea if there really is no way to tell if they were being serious or joking because you can't tell what the message is. As a critic, my job is to review a product - not a reaction to it. When I say that "this message is stupid or confusing or broken" I don't mean to say that "people are/might listen to this message." (Although, there definitely is a major concern for things like that in shows that are known for their morals like Friendship is Magic or Arthur). It's another broken piece of the episode, like the story or the visual. I have a category for this because when morals are done really well, especially in satire, they can open people's eyes to new ways of thinking. Remember, when I finally do an admirable on one of these FOX shows, they're going to be episodes like Bart Gets an F. ''The best episodes that I've reviewed, ''Bob's Father or Perfect or Mewnipendence Day are as such because they took extra consideration with the message that they want to convey. Art is about communication, whether it be a story, an emotion, or a message. And if you're not communicating properly, then you end up failing. Category:Miscellaneous